Readers may recall Bluestem's December 26 Odd choice given Fischbach's January 6 choices: MN07 primary challenger Steve Boyd hosting Epoch Times "real" January 6 film and town hall.
I'd embedded a December 23 post on X about the event by elections expert and retired Gustavus Adolphus College math and omputer science professor Max Hailperin.
Now the Alexandria Echo Press's Karen Tolkkinen has picked up on the story with a bit of comments from Boyd. In Kensington congressional candidate sides with January 6 defendants Tolkkinen reports:
Steve Boyd, the congressional hopeful from Kensington, is holding a Jan. 6 public forum in Fergus Falls featuring several defendants in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
According to an event flyer, headlined, "What is the truth about Jan. 6th?" the event will start at 6 p.m. with a film from The Epoch Times called "The real story of J6," followed by an 8 p.m. town hall meeting featuring the Westbury/James family who will "share their story of what really happened that day and the charges they are facing now." . . .
The event is scheduled to take place at VFW Post 612 in Fergus Falls, where Quartermaster Lynette Dornbusch said she wasn't aware of the agenda.
“They just rented the hall,” she said. “We don’t really take a political side of anything. We don’t stand for Trump or Biden or anything like that. But if somebody wants to rent the hall we’ll rent the hall to them.”
The company producing the film, The Epoch Times, is a controversial media organization affiliated with the Falun Gong religion which has been suppressed in China. It is widely seen as supportive of former President Trump and against China's ruling Communist Party. The Falun Gong movement, also known as the Falun Dafa, operates the Shen Yun dance organization.
Several members of the Westbury/James family have been charged with crimes in connection with their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol: Robert Westbury, Jonah Westbury, Isaac Westbury, and Aaron James. It is unclear whether this family will appear in person or via video link.
The flyer does not appear on Boyd's campaign website or his social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook. It was posted on X by Max Hailperin, who described himself as a "retired computer scientist and dabbler in election geekery." Contacted by the Echo Press, Boyd said the Jan. 6 events are open to the public, including news reporters, that he had been verifying details with the venue, and that he would post the event more publicly. . . .
As the screenshot at the top of this post illustrates, Boyd had first posted the flyer on his campaign Facebook page on December 23, the same day that Hailperin posted the image on X.
Bluestem doesn't know how the Echo Press missed that--or why Boyd concocted a story about how "t he would post the event more publicly." Maybe the reporter only visited his personal page, or Boyd had temporarily made the post private. I hope the paper issues a clarification.
Tolkkinen continues:
"The prosecutions of the J6 defendants like the James/Westbury family and the severity and tactics are politically motivated," he said. "It is especially clear when compared to what went on in cities across the country in the summer of 2020. Americans are sick and tired of a two-tiered justice system in and in my campaign will not be afraid to keep talking about it." . . .
Boyd declined to say whether he believes the Westbury and James family members did what they are accused of doing or whether he has seen the footage of them at the Capitol.
He also declined to comment on his position on the Falun Gong religion.
Bluestem doesn't blame him, but as I reported MN07 Republican challenger Steve Boyd doesn't think of himself as extreme. Why would anyone?,
he's the Minnesota state lead for Rick Green's Patriot Academy and something of a Christian nationalist. One would think he would have an opinion on sources.
Screenshot: The December 23 post on Steve Boyd's campaign Facebook page. I've also captured the current text of the Echo Press copy that claims the event wasn't on his Facebook page, in case that copy changes without a note of correction or clarification.
Related posts
- Odd choice given Fischbach's January 6 choices: MN07 primary challenger Steve Boyd hosting Epoch Times "real" January 6 film and town hal
- MN07 Republican challenger Steve Boyd doesn't think of himself as extreme. Why would anyone?
- News brief: Franson is Minnesota State Chair for National Association of Christian Lawmakers
- Nostalgia; or, New Republic article about a right-wing Christian sect takes us to our back pages
- Are ties of new MN Senate majority leader with New Apostolic Reformation recipe for gridlock?
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